The group of twelve looked into the forest with doubtful expressions. All of them except for Alfred. The cheerful American didn't care that the big wooded lot bordered by a ten-foot tall, barbed wire-topped, chain-link fence had a large bold sign that practically screamed its message of DO NOT ENTER, nor that it was starting to get quite dark out. In fact, he had been counting on it. It was Friday! Why couldn't he have a little fun with his high school foreign exchange student friends? Trespassing on this lot was necessary! It was the biggest patch of woods near the subdivision he lived by. The lot used to be a construction site before it closed for unknown reasons, and the way Alfred saw it; if they got caught he'd blame it on Arthur Kirkland, his old friend visiting from Great Britain. Alfred smiled to himself, walked over to the lone chain-link door, and turned to the still-staring group of eleven standing by the fire pit he had made when setting up. It wasn't very big, and there were just a few logs for seats.
In the group, there was Alfred's quiet, un-noticeable Canadian half-brother (long story), Matthew Williams, the equally quiet but much more noticeable student from Japan, Honda Kiku, his Chinese friend, Yao Wang, Alfred's Russian enemy (whom he did not invite, but couldn't kick out), Ivan Bragkinski, the "gentleman" friend, Arthur Kirkland, the German Beilschmidt brothers, Ludwig the serious and Gilbert the awesome, the cheery Spaniard, Antonio Carriedo, the lover from France, Francis Bonnefoy, and finally, the Italian Vargas twins, Feliciano, who was always happy, and Lovino, who in Alfred's opinion was always angry. Why did Alfred choose all foreign exchange students? Because he wanted "to show them how kick-ass America could, bro!" As if his game would change their opinion.
"Listen up, dudes!" he called.
"Why are we here of all places?" Arthur frowned, looking at him, and then the door.
"Ve~! You told us there was a prize!" Feliciano smiled, sitting next to Ludwig on a log. His brother, Lovino, narrowed his eyes slightly, and took a seat on the opposite log with Antonio, Francis, and Gilbert immediately following, not improving his sour mood at all.
"Because it's awesome," Alfred stated, answering Arthur's question. "There is a prize, but first you gotta win!"
"Win what?" Antonio questioned, scooting slightly closer to Lovino. The Italian scowled.
"I hid eight pages in these woods earlier," Alfred announced. "First person to find and get all eight wins! We'll decide what later. Probably money." Everyone looked up with newfound interest.
"What if you're lying?" Yao said doubtfully.
"Eagle Scout honor, I'm not." He smiled.
"What's the catch?" Ludwig frowned, not re-assured as Yao backed down.
"If you go in groups, you have to split the prize. Also, you only have thirty minutes to look if you need it with a flashlight, and a compass to help you find your way back," Alfred explained quickly. No one really wanted to split the money.
"Do you even know how to read a compass?" Arthur scoffed.
"I don't have to," Alfred stuck his tongue out, "I have a map."
"You need a compass to read a map, mon ami," Francis frowned slightly, agreeing with Arthur for once.
"Alfred-san, can we see what the pages look like?" Kiku interrupted respectfully.
Alfred, happy to change the subject, explained what the pages looked like and handed them all an example.
It was a plain white page with a giant "A" in the colors of the United States flag.
"What the hell is this?" Lovino hissed.
"It's what the page looks like," Alfred scowled at the obvious insult.
"I can see that, bastard," the Italian snapped. "Does the 'A' stand for Alfred, or America?"
"Uh…..Both?" Alfred didn't think of that.
"What happens if you don't get all of the pages?" Matthew asked quietly, hoping someone would hear him. Sadly, no one really did.
"What happens if someone, definitely not the awesome me, doesn't get all of the pages?" Gilbert smirked.
Alfred looked over at him, eyes shining with excitement. "Dude we throw you back in until you get all eight! This door is the only way out unless you wanna climb over and be ripped apart by that barbed-wire!" he joked, pointed to the lonely fence door. "And I have the key!"
"So you're telling me that this is the only door, and you just happen to have a key for it?" Arthur said skeptically.
"No, I'm telling you this is the only door I cut the chain and lock off of and put on my own," Alfred smiled.
"You're joking," Arthur blanched.
"Kesesesese~" Gil laughed at his expression. "The awesome me will beat you all!"
"So does that mean you want to go first?" The American smirked slightly.
"Nein," he shut up.
"Any volunteers then?" Alfred turned to the others. No one said anything. He sighed and brought out a baseball hat with some slips of paper inside and turned to Francis.
"Pick one."
Francis raised an eyebrow and reached into the hat. Alfred stole the paper he drew before he could read it. "The first person to go is Feliciano!"
Feliciano's eyes widened and he shook his head rapidly. "No way am I going in there! It's dark and scary and who knows what's in there! Ludwig don't make me go alone!" he cried, hugging the German tightly. Gilbert smirked mischievously, making kissy faces at Ludwig behind Feli's back. Francis and Antonio fell over, shaking with silent laughter as Ludwig's face turned a deep red. He pushed the small Italian away.
"There is nothing back there and you have a flashlight. And, it's only eight pages and it's not even dark out." Ludwig told him, looking away. Feliciano let go of him, feeling hurt as he looked down and nodded, small tears welling up in his eyes. What if he needed help? Ludwig didn't want to be there for him…
"Good luck, bro!" Alfred put a flashlight and compass in his hands rather forcefully, and steered him by his shoulders through the gate, locking it behind him. Everyone whooped encouragement and began discussing who was going to search for firewood as Feliciano disappeared into the woods. All while Lovino glared at Ludwig with more hate than ever, and the sun sank below the trees, signaling the beginning of an interesting night.
Author's Note: This is re-posted. I made some changes, if you would like to know just PM me. ^-^ Again, thank you AwesomePanda24 for coming up with the title. For everyone new to Hetalia, I hope the second paragraph helped sort out the human names. Also, I didn't add accents to the speech of the characters, but if enough people want me to I can do that. Lastly, review please! Let me know if you happen see any grammer mistakes, or if you like/dislike it.
Word Count: 1,205
Thanks for reading~